


Comfort

by the_fox333



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-11
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-30 07:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8524411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_fox333/pseuds/the_fox333
Summary: Even Garnet has her moments of instability, though for her, it's fairly literal.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this imagining it being set at some point during/immediately after A Cry For Help. That would, of course, kind of negate the entire plot of Keystone Motel, so it's up to you whether or not to accept that.

Garnet strode through her temple room door a little faster than usual. The stone slabs melded back together and she broke into a run; pounding feet propelling her faster and faster. Leaping from the edge of a circular shaft, she assumed a head-first skydiving position as she plummeted through the logic defying expanse of the temple's corridors. She fell past the yellow-and-black NO STEVENS BEYOND THIS POINT line Pearl had painted, past the red-and-black REALLY STEVEN TURN BACK line, past the solid black STEVEN I'M SERIOUS DON'T GO HERE line, and finally through the field keeping the air out of the Lower Temple, her descent becoming true freefall. At the last second, she expertly flipped herself upright, the impact having an unsettling lack of effect on the ancient gem architecture. Hardly even pausing, she pushed once more off the floor and practically flew through the friction-free environment. She bolted past dangerous relics, ancient relics, bubbled gems, all manner of weapons, unable to concentrate on the memories they brought back. Turning sideways, her feet slammed against the wall in a perfectly executed momentum-canceling collision. A memory of countless hours of practice to stick this landing emerged and was quickly buried again under her tumbling thoughts.

Dropping to the floor, Garnet stood and placed her hand against the unassuming gray wall. Her gems glowed, a little tingling sensation running up her arms, and a large glowing door appeared on the rock and melted away. The gate's obscure placement had been the last line of defense against a potential invasion, though it had result in a few absentminded Crystal Gems forgetting its location and missing important meetings. Garnet walked urgently to the center of the vaulted chamber, artificial sunlight streaming in from the room above. Lava poured from the top of the arch and hardened as it filled in the entryway once more. Immediately, Garnet collapsed to her knees, hands pressing her head together as if trying to prevent it from splitting apart.

A moment later, it did just that. Garnet's body melted into a blob of shapeless light, and Ruby and Sapphire tumbled from opposite sides of the glow. "Aargh!" Ruby cried almost immediately. "How could we be so STUPID?"

"Ruby, calm down," Sapphire tried to advise her partner, but to no avail. Ruby jumped up and began storming in a wide circle, her steps leaving slightly soot-stained footprints as she went.

"We were so blind!" she growled. "She was just USING us to get what she wanted! How didn't we notice? How didn't we see it!?" Fury overtook eloquence, and Ruby's rant devolved into enraged shouts and exaggerated hand motions. Sapphire levitated to her usual inch-high ascension and floated over to Ruby, placing a cool hand on her shoulder.

"Ruby, it's okay," she assured her. "That was then, this is now. We can't change what's already happened, but we can change our response to it."

"Like hell we can!" Ruby rolled her eyes. "She- she just- she betrayed our trust, Sapphire! We trusted her, and she lied to us!" Sapphire tried to put an arm around Ruby's shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

"Ruby, you can't just keep being mad forever," Sapphire cautioned.

" ** _I_** can't keep being mad!? You can't tell me you're not mad about this!" Sapphire gently wrapped her in a hug, and then Ruby was crying, tears hissing with steam before snapping into tiny hailstones when they hit Sapphire's shoulder.

"It's- It's just not fair, Sapphire," she sniffed. "We tried to be strong, we tried to be smart, but someone else made us look stupid."

"It's going to be alright," Sapphire whispered softly. "We can move past this. We're better than her." A single tear rolled from her closed eye, tracing a frosted line down her cheek. "We can be strong for each other."

Ruby sniffed and wiped the tears from her face. "I love you, Sapphire," she smiled.

A sad smile spread over Sapphire's face, the icy trail of the tear glistening on her cheek. "I love you, too, Ruby," she whispered. The two embraced each other tightly, and a moment later, Garnet was sprinting back the way she came. She had some unfinished business to take care of.

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this made me realize I should write something specifically about my headcanon of what the Temple is like, so I eventually will. I'll probably put a link here once I do.


End file.
